Simon's Book
"Simon's Book" is Episode 2 in Season 2. It originally aired on July 17, 1984. Synopsis The episode begins with LeVar drawing a doodle of some sort, and he lets the viewers guess what it is. It's a snail watching Reading Rainbow. He says he loves to doodle in his spare time. When he sees an empty space in his notebook, he likes to fill it up. He keeps them in case he wants to make a book out of them. All you need to do so is string, glue, ink, and of course paper. People have different ideas for doodles. Some kids show the viewers what they are doodling. LeVar says, "When you start out with a doodle and inspiration, there's no telling where it can lead you to." LeVar asks the viewers how books get started. The title one's author, Henrik Drescher, shows how. He starts with an idea, like any author does. He makes himself a dummy book to begin the inspiration before the final pictures are drawn. He also shows the viewers another book he is currently working on. Every one of his starts out with a doodle. LeVar is at the bindery where he shows the viewers how blank sheets of paper can be turned into books we read. The more copies of one there are, the better chance you can enjoy it. Making one is not at all magic, it takes scientific know-hard and creative talent. The four basic colors used for printing ones are red, yellow, blue, and black. People test the inks' colors so they can make the books' pages. When the colors are what they want, one of each is used for each printing plate. Light is exposed to reveal the colors. Once the plates are on the printing press, the paper is loaded into the machine. Once it's done so, ink is poured into the press. Then it is ready for action. Both sides of the paper have to be printed. Special heat lamps dry the ink during the printing process. Once the pages are all printed, they go to a place where they can be bound. We hear a song that shows exactly what happens there at the bindery. After the books are bound, they're ready for people to read them. In the times before they were any books or paper, people used different ways to write. LeVar shows the viewers an animation of how they did it. Once a book has been printed and sent to libraries, it's up to you to check it out and bring it to life. LeVar says that you don't have to make thousands of copies of a book to take on a life of its own. Your own homemade one can be just as real. All start out as ideas, and once they are complete they are ready to be shipped all over the country to libraries and bookstores. Review Books *What's Under My Bed? *Me and Neesie *Begin at the Beginning Category:Season 2 Category:Episodes